Ice Breaker
by kikikiwi
Summary: Fred wakes up in the middle of the frozen lake, and ends up having to spend the next week in the hospital wing, and Hermione, having been in a bad potions accident shares the same fate. As time goes on, Fred and Hermione spend a lot of time together.
1. What a Mess!

Summary: Fred wakes up in the middle of the frozen lake, and ends up having to spend the next week in the hospital wing, and Hermione, having been in a bad potions accident shares the same fate. As time goes on, Fred and Hermione spend a lot of time together and really enjoy each other's company –FW/HG

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of the characters. Rowling does. Just wish I could have come up with all that. And then I wouldn't be writing all this. I would be rolling in all my money, and snoozing in my big mansion. Or maybe on a cruise in my yacht in the south of France. That would be nice. But alas… I don't.

Ice Breaker

Chapter One: what a mess!

One cold, crisp November morning at Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry, one very redheaded twin woke with a start to find that he was no longer in the place where he had fallen asleep. He cursed lightly under his breath. "I am going to kill George," he whispered to himself as the slow realization that he was in the middle of the frozen black lake slapped him hard in the face.

"What time is it?" he asked seemingly no one. "Or better yet… how can I get my newly hated twin back for this childish stunt?" but he had no time to think as he glanced at his watch and realized that his morning classes were due to start in five minutes. He got up, and slipped on the ice landing on his behind. "This could have been worse," Fred exclaimed to himself as he got on all fours to steady himself to get up. But alas, he spoke too soon, for things did indeed get worse.

Fred heard a very loud CRACK. _Oh no_, he thought as all of a sudden. The ground started getting higher as he sank deeper and deeper in to the freezing cold lake.

I'm sure all the students (who were now five minutes into their first morning class) could hear him screaming.

_I am going to die! I am going to get hypothermia, and then I'll never be able to get back at my bloody twin who will probably feel so bad because he was the death of me! I knew he would finish me off in the end! _Fred thought as he could feel his legs go numb as the icy cold water washed up and down his bare legs. Fred closed his eyes and evaluated his life.

_Sure George and I were always the troublemakers, but we always knew when to draw the line. I will probably go to heaven. I don't know about George though. He is the one that got me into this whole mess, and will be named the murderer. What will mum say? She will probably be sad that I am dead, and ashamed that the cause of my unfortunate end was my own flesh. My own twin. Oh the shame. _

His thoughts were interrupted as he felt himself being lifted out of the icy deep. _Am I dead? _he thought curiously. _No I am not dead. I am still cold!_ his thoughts were broken when he sighted his rescuer.

"wha' are yeh doin' ou' in this col' lake Fred?"

IT WAS HAGRID!

"Oh, just thought I would take a morning swim Hagrid." Sighed Fred. No matter how much he hated his brother right now, he was not about to rat him out. This was his accomplice, his partner in crime, his brother, and his twin. There was no ratting out. That was worse than murder.

"Well it's off to the 'ospital wing with yeh. I don' wan' you getting' sick now. Off with yeh! Get goin'!"

"Thanks Hagrid!" Fred yelled back to Hagrid as he ran into the castle and towards the hospital wing.

"Looks like you got here just in time," Madame Pomfrey said. "Any later, and you would have been a lot harder to cure. Hypothermia is not a nice ailment. You are indeed lucky that Hagrid got there when he did. What were you doing out there anyways?"

Well Fred had thought of many different lies to tell her if she did indeed ask this question, so he was ready to answer when she asked him.

"Oh, you see, this morning, I thought it would be nice to go for a stroll before classes started, and clear my head, and so I had my books and all with me, and while I was out there, someone threw a snowball at me, and my book bag fell and one of the books fell out of the bag and went sliding out onto the lake, and when I went to go get it, the ice broke, and here we are." He looked straight into Pomfrey's eyes, and knew that she bought it. "Man, George owes me BIG!" Fred thought exasperatedly.

"Very well Weasley, take this potion. It will make you sleep, I am afraid you will have to stay in here for a few days. You should ask your brother to bring your homework to you." Said Pomfrey as she poured a revolting looking potion into a clear glass.

If he could describe the taste of this potion in a sentence, he would describe that it tasted like flobberworm swimming in its own bile. He downed the potion as fast as he could, and the last thing he remembered was wanting to throw it all up…. Maybe there was a reason that this stuff worked almost instantly –so the drinker would be asleep before they could puke it all up onto the floor- that was definitely it. Fred fell asleep with the thought of him punching his brother hard in the nose, and drifted off with a blissful smile on his face.

For the second time that day, Fred awoke with a start to a terrible noise, and then yelling and screaming, and then he saw Dumbledore running alongside a body yelling, "Put her over there!" and then more chaos and then it was all over. Fred was in such a daze; still being under the potions influence, and at once fell back asleep. Subconsciously, he was thinking, _who is 'she'? What happened? How many days will I have to be in here? George is definitely going to pay for his little stunt, or perhaps just the fact that he will be really guilty will be punishment enough. Yah…_ but that was all he thought, because he was asleep again.

Fred let out a groan as he woke up, rolled over, and realized that he was trapped in the hospital wing for who knows how long. He cursed the sunlight for waking him up and pulling him back into the horrid reality he wished he wasn't living.

"Fred? Is that you?" he heard someone whisper

"Hermione?" Fred whispered "what are you doing in here?" he couldn't help but think that that noise he heard the day before (whatever it was) was the cause of her being here, and he pondered this until, after a long silence, she answered in a very raspy, calm voice.

"I was monitoring the hallways, doing my prefect duties, when a certain slytherin scum we all love to loathe came down the hall carrying an armful of potion bottles. Well apparently he didn't see me, and peeves decided that this would be a perfect time to pull one of his pranks and tripped Malfoy, who, at the moment, had been walking by me, and when he fell, all the potions bottles he was holding flew out of his arms, shattered againsed the wall, and the potions the bottles contained flew at me. All of them were harmless, but when mixed together, they can do some real damage. And that is why I am here. And it is here I shall stay for a week at least. And now I cant go to my classes, or do my work, or my prefect duties! Why did all this have to happen to me?" her voice started to shake, and she started to cry.

Fred usually wasn't one to sympathize with anyone, but right now, he figured that she had it worse than he did, and with all the energy he wanted to use, he got out of bed and hobbled over to Hermione's bed, and wrapped his arms around her, and she cried into his shoulder. He rubbed her back soothingly, and when she stopped crying she added, "and that stupid prat was watching all this and laughing his head off the whole time it happened too."

Fred had the sudden urge to find Malfoy that very second and pound his face in. He could punish George later, well maybe he wouldn't punish him at all. He needed someone to lie for him about how Malfoy lost all his teeth, and that would be payback enough. No one messes with his brother's best friend and gets away with it!

Just then, none other then George Weasley came into the hospital wing, with a very stoic look on his face. That is until he saw Hermione in the arms of his twin. Wishing he were dead, Fred closed his eyes and wished that his brother for once in his life would not have had bad timing. _I don't want him assuming something that shouldn't be assumed, _he thought as he tried to get Hermione's attention, but she had fallen asleep. _How long had I been holding her for_? he thought, as he laid her down and walked to his twin.

"Never thought you had it in you to like someone two years younger than you brother." said George, forcing himself not to laugh, and failing horribly. He broke out with fits of laughter as he watched the dumbfounded look on his brother's face. "You know, even though we are identical, I could probably never be able to make that face." Said George laughing even harder.

He stopped laughing when his nose was brutally introduced to Fred's merciless fist. "That was for presuming that I like Hermione, which is untrue and you know it," he snarled. And punched him again as hard as he could in the shoulder. "And that, was for your stupid little stunt with the lake that landed me here in the first place." He yelled.

He knew this was a bit harsh, and he didn't even plan on hitting him for the whole prank thing, but he was on a roll and couldn't bring himself to stop it.

"Ow!" shouted George. "I don't even know what you are talking about! What stunt? I just heard from Harry, who heard from Hagrid that you were in the hospital wing! And me, being the good brother that I am, decided to come and visit you. But now I can see that you were not sick at all! You just came to see your girlfriend!" George said, and then broke out laughing again.

Fred had no time to respond because he was interrupted by an angry Madame Pomfrey. "What is the meaning of this?" a very stern Madame Pomfrey scolded. "You should not be out of bed Fred Weasley! And George, you might want to leave, I will not have you be noisy in here, and wake up the other patients! Now off with you to lunch! The next time I see you, it better be because you need medical attention, or for the purpose of bringing your brother his homework! Understand me?" Pomfrey was in a fowl mood, and George knew that smarting off to this woman would indeed be foolish, so with a quick 'yes ma'am,' he left.

Madame Pomfrey poured some more of the vile sleeping potion for Fred, and he downed it and drifted off to sleep with more thoughts: _If George wasn't the one who did it, then who did? And how could he think I like Hermione? I was just comforting her…_

A/N: well here is the first chapter! I hope yall like it! Let me know what you think! Review! And if you have any ideas for me, I would love to hear them! –thanks- kikikiwi


	2. The Problem

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or any of the other HP characters. Everything belongs to Mrs. Rowling.

A/N: and as a special new year's treat for all my wonderful readers, here is chapter two!

LAST TIME ON ICE BREAKER: Madame Pomfrey poured some more of the vile sleeping potion for Fred, and he downed it and drifted off to sleep with more thoughts: If George wasn't the one who did it, then who did? And how could he think I like Hermione? I was just comforting her…

Chapter 2: The Problem

Fred woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of someone crying softly. He got up and slowly walked over to Hermione's bed. "Hermione?" he said, "What is the matter? Why are you crying?" he felt insecure as he steadily sat down on her bed.

"It is nothing," she said with a sniff. "Nothing of importance anyways." She composed herself and continued on. "Well, nothing of importance to you, or anyone else, just me. Maybe I will tell you one day, but I am not yet ready to reveal it to the world."

What could she mean? He thought. 'Only something of importance to her'? Well, now I have to know!

"You know," he said, "Even though I am only your best friend's older brother, you know you can tell me anything, right?" He placed his hand on her shoulder comfortingly, and she began to speak.

"I know, but telling you, telling anyone, would just make it all too real, and I don't want it to be real." She squeaked as she began sniveling again.

He pulled her into his arms as she started to cry again, and he soothingly rubbed her back. You know, he thought, girls are so much harder to get information out of than guys. Why can't she be like a guy? Hermione continued to cry into his shoulder and then, eventually he felt her breathing regulate, and she was asleep. I'll ask her about all this tomorrow. He thought. And he laid her back down and went back to his bed and fell asleep.

Fred was happy in the world of dreams. He dreamt that he was ice-skating on the Black lake, and Hermione joined him. She looked so good, she had her unruly brunette hair in a French braid and her cheeks were a rosy pink color that suited her very well. They were having so much fun when all of a sudden he heard a loud crack, and he began to sink, and the last thing he saw was the horrified look on Hermione's face as he could feel his legs being soaked with freezing cold water…

Fred woke up screaming when he felt the cold water on his legs. It felt so real, and then he came to realize that the water WAS real. Someone had poured freezing-cold water onto his legs, or something to that effect. And when he tried to get out of bed, he found that his legs wouldn't move. No one had poured water on him; he was just feeling the effects of a potion that Madame Pomfrey had given him while he slept. The potion, he would come to find later, temporarily paralysis the problem place in the body (in Fred's case, his legs) so that they cannot move it while the potion heals it.

This was not his day. It was bad enough that he was confined in this place, now he was forced to stay in the uncomfortable bed.

"Bad dream?" He heard Hermione say.

"Bad morning," he replied.

"Thank you so much for what you did last night," she said smoothly. "I don't think I could have slept last night if it weren't for you, so thanks." She said and gave him a warm smile.

"So are you ever going to tell me what you were crying about?" asked Fred. "I think since we are going to spend a week in here together, that if you don't tell me, ill go crazy wondering what it is, so you might as well tell me Because I will never let it go until you do." Said Fred with a sly grin. He knew perfectly well how to get information out of people.

"Well," she hesitated, she took a long pause as if thinking it all over, whether she should tell him or not. She took a deep breath and said reluctantly, "If you are absolutely certain that you must know then, I guess I can tell you, but you must promise not to tell anyone! Ok?" she said, and Fred knew that this was more serious than he had thought.

"You have my word." He promised.

"Well," she started, "Last night Madame Pomfrey gave me my diagnosis after a bunch of tests. She told me that the mixture of all those potions.." she broke off and struggled to fight back tears. "It turns out that they have caused me to…" she broke out in tears, she was really struggling with this. "I'm sorry," she said between sobs, I don't think I can tell you just yet."

Fred wished he could go over to her bed and comfort her, but he couldn't move. "Okay," he said calmly. "You don't have to tell me just yet, I can tell it is really causing you a lot of grief, so you can tell me some other time."

"No, I want to tell you now, and get it over with," she said, her voice wavering, "I have to face my fears sometime and I might as well do it now." She took a long, steady breath and continued. "The Mixture of the potions has caused me to have…" she could only mouth the last word.

"RAWS KAPLER?" shouted Fred, and he knew that he should not have said it out loud like that. Hermione's Chocolate brown eyes seemed distorted by a waver of tears waiting to spill out her eyes. He did not know what to think. He was very concerned and scared and he just did not know what to do.

Fred did not know much about this disease, but with the little he did know, he knew that it was a deadly disease that spread through the body causing all the vital organs to malfunction.

Just then, Fred could feel the feeling come back in his legs, and he realized that he could move them again. He got off his bed and walked (wobbled more like) over to Hermione's bed. He patted her on the back and whispered, "I am sorry, I am an idiot. Is there a cure?"

Between her crying she said, "No. The only thing they can do is contain it for a little while, and hope to extend my life for a few more years, but they definitely cannot get rid of it entirely."

She continued to cry as Fred pulled her into a tight hug and said, "You know, the few people that get this disease let it take over their lives. I know you are stronger than they are, so you need to fight this thing! Don't let it take over your life! And you know what? I will help you!" he said getting more confidence as he continued, "And you have Harry and Ron and your parents there for you too, I know that!" he pulled out of the hug and looked deep into her chestnut eyes. "With help, you can fight this!"

Fred's speech seemed to give Hermione courage. She wiped the tears off her face and gave Fred a smile and said "Thanks, that means a lot." She stood up off her bed and got a glass of water to rejuvenate herself. "Never really realized how dehydrated crying makes you!" she exclaimed before she downed the whole glass of water and filled up her glass again.

"Yah, you seemed to have rid your body of all things moist with all the tears you shed!" Fred said. Apparently this was a bad thing to say, because his head was soon drenched with water that Hermione had dumped over his head.

"I did not cry that much!" she exclaimed.

"Oh, so it is WAR you want!" Fred yelled ignoring her last comment. He filled up his own glass of water and threw it at her. Before he knew it, Hermione, with a twinkle in those honey brown eyes of hers had grabbed her wand and had water spurting from the end of it, drenching Fred from head to toe. _Now, how could I have forgotten that I could do magic? _Thought Fred, as he dove for cover behind his bed and grabbed his wand.

"You can't hide from me Weasley!" shouted Hermione, her voice threatening. She slowly, very quietly snuck beside Fred's bed and jumped out in front of him. But he was ready for her. He shot water out of his wand and she ended up soaked from head to foot. "Ooooo!" She snarled, "I am going to get you for this one!" she pointed her wand at Fred and before she could say a spell, Madame Pomfrey came running in.

"You two!" she shouted! "REALLY! I thought better of you!" she gave them each indignant looks. "Now I want you each to clean up this mess! Right this instant!" she said, her voice getting softer with each word. She was a cobra about to strike at any second, and the two patients did not want to be bitten, so they followed orders and immediately began cleaning up the water mess they had created.

A couple of dry spells and cleaning spells later, the hospital wing was good as new, and was back to normal. Pomfrey looked around with a critical eye to make sure that they had gotten everything perfect, and finally, grudgingly, she approved that it was satisfactory. She gave a loud "harrumph" and stalked back into her office.

As soon as she was safely back in her office, Hermione and Fred burst out in fits of laughter. "Did you see that look she had on her face?" Fred howled while he was holding his sides laughing so hard. "I thought she was going to explode!"

All of a sudden Hermione stopped laughing. _What has come over me? I must've just broken at least two rules with that little stunt! I can't believe I disrespected Madame Pomfrey like that! _She thought as all of a sudden she had the sudden urge to sock Fred in the gut for making her do that. And since she had done one bad thing today, she decided that one more wouldn't hurt, so she went up to Fred and punched him hard in the gut.

"Bloody He—Helpings Granger! What did you do that for?" Fred wheezed as he fell to the floor clutching his stomach.

"How DARE you make me do things that I wouldn't normally do! You big old' tease!" she said as she smiled triumphantly at Fred who was on the floor.

"So you hurt me because I am a tease?" Fred asked indignantly, "Are you feeling ok Hermione? Because this is definitely not like you! What happened to the sweet Hermione that I know?" Fred asked, a dumbfounded look on his face as he watched this girl smile smugly at him like she had just won a bet at a quidditch game.

"Well she took a Temporary break I guess," she said with a smirk. Fred lifted an eyebrow at her. "And don't you stick your eyebrow up at me! I cant do that, and so I get really frustrated when other people can." Hermione said.

"Well, in that case," Fred said and stuck his eyebrow at her again. She hit him playfully in the arm and extended her hand out to him, and helped him up off the floor.

Just then, Madame Pomfrey came out of her office with the bottle of sleeping potion. Fred Winced at the sight of it being poured into his glass. He downed it in one quick gulp and watched her do the same for Hermione as he fell asleep.

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A/N: And here is chapter two! I hope all of you like it! I would like to thank all of my reviewers! Their comments gave me warm fuzzies! I'd like to give a shout out to my wonderful beta readers! Tracy and Chey! Yall are awesome! Please review! I love reading what you guys think about my story so far! –Thanks- kikikiwi


	3. The Pivotal moment

Disclaimer: The only thing I own is the ipod I got for Christmas, but I don't even own the songs on it. So I guess I don't own anything. Oh well.

A/N: btw everyone, this is set in Hermione's fifth year (obviously,) but I might not have Umbridge in here. That is unless yall talk me out of it. Lemme know what you think! Review!

Chapter Three: The pivotal moment

Hermione woke up with a smile on her face. She had just had a dream that involved a certain red-headed twin. She did not understand why this made her feel butterflies inside. She shrugged it off and decided to think of something else. She remembered that she was dieing, and the smile immediately left and a single tear slid down her cheek.

She found herself more alert when she heard two very familiar voices from down the hall, and footsteps entering the hospital wing. (She sat up as she saw two boys, one with unruly black hair, and the other one with flaming red hair walk into the hospital wing with looks of concern on their faces. Harry and Ron spotted Hermione and ran to her bedside. "Hermione!" they both breathed in unison, "we came as soon as we heard!" said Harry, gasping for breath.

"Is it true, what they are saying?" asked Ron, "do you really have Raws Kepler?" Ron asked with a look of pure concern and fear on his face.

This was the moment that Hermione had dreaded. Admitting the truth to Fred was one thing, but confirming the truth to her two best friends was a whole different ordeal. She knew that telling them would make it even more real. As much as she tried to suppress them, tears streaked her already red cheeks, and she slowly, but surely nodded her head.

Ron's eyes widened at this affirmation and in a sudden rage, he balled up his fists trying to control it. He was muttering under his breath. Something about killing whatever had caused this.

This sudden action of Ron's was the last straw for Hermione. She could take it no longer. "I am sick of feeling sorry for myself!" she exclaimed, as she boldly stood up in her bed. "I am sick of everyone being sorry for me! I am alive! I am here! I don't want to spend the rest of what little time I have left as if I were already dead!" she yelled, and then finished, "I am not going to let this thing get a hold of me and ruin my life. Nothing can get in the way of… of… o…" Her eyes rolled into the back of her head as she fainted and began to fall, hard, toward the floor. Harry had no time to react, so he shut his eyes tight, waiting for the loud thump of Hermione hitting the floor. When it never came he opened his eyes and saw her safely in Fred's arms

Harry looked at Fred in amazement, and was jerked out of his trance at the sound of Fred**'s **voice

"Don't just stand there and stare you dolt!" he said. "Help me put her into the bed."

Normally, Fred would've been able to just pick her up and put her into the bed, but his legs were paralyzed again, and if it weren't for his strong arms (due to all his beating experience in quidditch), he would not have been able to throw himself onto the floor in time to catch Hermione, seeing as Harry was in shock and wasn't doing anything to help.

Harry picked up Hermione and placed her safely in the bed, and went to get Madame Pomfrey.

Fred pulled himself back onto his bed, and had much to think about. As awkward as it was to admit it, he felt empty when Harry took Hermione out of his arms. He wanted to hold onto her and never let go, anything to get that feeling of being whole back. Wait a minute! He thought, this cant be me thinking all this! Come on Fred, snap out of it! This is not something you should be thinking right now! Fred fought with himself. A battle no one wants to go through. He could not shake the feeling of loneliness. What he wanted was so close, yet so far.

Madame Pomfrey burst out of her office with Harry on her heals. She examined Hermione closely and finally reached a conclusion as to why this had happened. "Granger has had too much stress on her heart for today, and her body could not handle it, so it took a demanding step, it made her so her body could do some healing and relaxing without interruption." Madame Pomfrey said, and took a slight pause before continuing, "She needs lots of rest with no interruptions. And as for you Fred Weasley, apparently my attempts to make you stay put have failed. Don't make me use a body bind, ok? She finished, and went back into her office.

"Well," said Harry nervously, "as much as I would hate to leave, I think I had best be off. Morning classes start in ten minutes." He was halfway to the exit when he turned around and said, "oh, and Fred, George wanted me to tell you that he would be by later to give you your homework."

"Fine," said Fred, "Tell my darling twin brother I said thanks… for nothing." Harry turned back around and exited the hospital wing. The last thing Fred wanted to do while spending a week in this place was do homework, in fact, he would prefer not to do homework at all, but it had to be done.

When he could no longer hear Harry's footsteps, Fred wished his legs could move so that he could check on Hermione. He wouldn't have had time to any ways, because Madame Pomfrey came out of her office with a bowl of soup for him. She handed it to him with a stern look, and said, "Now drink it all! You don't want to starve now do you?"

Fred stared at the bowl of soup on his lap. He did not want to eat this rubbish. It looked like some sort of tomato gruel with globs of something that looked more or less than potatoes that had been left in the sun for too long in it. It looked revolting. Reluctantly, he slowly ate it. He would have to remember to tell George to sneak something out of the kitchens for him when he saw him later. He finished his soup and was forced to down some more of the dreaded sleeping potion. He gagged at the taste and was soon asleep wishing for something sweet to get that taste out of his mouth.

Fred woke up five hours later to find that George had already been there, seeing as his homework was on the bedside table. "Drat!" he said, mentally punching himself for not being able to ask his twin for food. He saw an envelope on top of the books that had his name on it. He curiously picked it up off the table. It wasn't from George; it wasn't his handwriting that was on the envelope. He opened the envelope cautiously, he never trusted unmarked envelopes after all the nasty ones he and George had received due to their jokes and tricks. One time, he had opened one and there was a powder inside that made his hand blow up like a balloon. It was horrible, but it gave him and George another idea for a product for their little business. This letter seemed safe, and he was curious, so he opened it and read the following"

_Dear Fred,_

_I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am for putting you in the middle of the lake while you were sleeping. I obviously was not thinking, and I feel horrible for it now. _

_Get better soon._

The letter was unsigned. _Hmmm_ Fred thought, _well this should be easy to find out. It had to have been a Gryffindor. No one else could have gotten into my dorm, and the handwriting looks like a guy's handwriting. So, all I have to do is observe the handwriting of my dear fellow Gryffindors and see if I can find the culprit to this mess. _Fred was pulled from his thoughts when he heard Hermione stir in the bed next to his.

He got out of bed after he realized that he had the use of his legs again. He figured that if Pomfrey gave him that potion before he woke up, it took about seven hours to ware off. This was good to know.

He walked over to Hermione. She opened her eyes and looked up at him and smiled.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, "You gave quite the power speech Mione!" he said and laughed when he saw her wince at the nickname.

"Must you call me that?" she said as she sat up. "I hate that nickname." She got out of the bed and walked across the room to get some water.

"Now now, Mione," said Fred, "Remember what happened last time you got water!" he laughed as he continued, "And it is such a cute nickname!" he teased, as she nudged him playfully in the shoulder.

"I would throw water at you again, but I don't want Madame Pomfrey to have a cow." She said and walked back to her bed and sat down sipping her water. "Oh! You get to meet my parents! They are coming today. I get to tell them what is wrong with me. It will be hard though, because they don't know what Raws Kepler is." She said, and she got a far away look in her eyes. "I don't know what they will say. I am dieing. I am their only child…" she broke off staring at a spot on the ceiling, her face expressionless. A few minutes went by and she continued again in a soft, mesmerizing voice that would make Professor Trelawny proud, "I don't know what to do. I feel like I am abandoning them! I don't want them to be by themselves." a tear fell down her cheek as she spoke.

Fred sat down on her bed and pulled her into a hug, holding her comfortingly. "There is nothing that can be done," he said soothingly, "We must all face death sometime in our lives, it is all part of life. Although, this is not a choice way, nor does it seem the right time. Everything happens for a reason Mione." He said, and continued to hold her. He could not seem to get himself to let go of her. That feeling of being whole was back as he held her in his arms. What a blissful feeling it was too.

Fred and Hermione talked for a long time, not really about anythingin particular, just getting to know each other, swapping stories about families and of different places they had been. Before they knew it, Madame Pomfrey, interrupted them informing Hermione that her parents had arrived and would be there shortly.

Hermione stared at her hands, deep in thought. She was dreading telling her parents. These were the people who had raised her, supported her, and were always there for her. She had been contemplating with herself for a while now how she was break the news to them. How do you tell your parents that you have an incurable disease?

She watched as her parents cautiously followed Dumbledore into the hospital wing.

Her mother spotted her first. "HERMIONE!" she cried, running to her only child and giving her a tight hug. Her father following suit. "Your headmaster has informed us that you have something to tell us," said her mom with a worried look on her face. "Apparently it is something important or you would have told us via owl." Her mom continued in a forced calm voice.

Hermione decided to keep her face expressionless. This was the pivotal moment. The moment she had dreaded. She wished she did not have to tell her parents. She wished none of this had ever happened. She took a long, deep, breath and began her story. The story she had rehearsed in her mind for what seemed like years.

"Mu-mum, dad, I-I have a… a," she paused, knowing that this revelation would change her parents lives forever. She swallowed hard and the word rolled off her tongue like the plague itself. "I have a disease. It is a magical disease, one you have never heard of," she said, and the looks on her parents faces made her not want to go on. The horror that was etched on them was just too much to bear. But she continued, "This is a very rare disease, and it is called Raws Kepler. It is like a cancer that spreads to the vital organs, causing them to malfunction." She took a deep breath and said the worst news at all, she tried hard to suppress the tears, but try as she might, the defying tears seared down her cheeks as she concluded, "There is no cure. I am dieing."

Tears continued to run down her cheeks, and she closed her eyes. She could not bear to look at her parents anymore. She heard her mom sob, and her dad, who she knew was trying to be brave kept saying, "oh my goodness" over and over again.

She felt the world start to spin, and she threw her arms around her mother and whispered, "I love you mom," and she willed herself not to pass out, but it was a loosing battle, and the world became a swirling dark abyss as she fell into unconsciousness.

The next thing she knew, she was waking up in the hospital bed with her parents on either side of her, each holding one of her hands. Her mom was crying. Between sobs, Hermione could hear her mother saying "not my baby! She is too young! This can't be happening!" Hermione squeezed her mother's hand and she brought her head up to look at her darling child.

"Mom," she said, "I know all this is hard to take in and accept, but I have decided that I am not going to let this take over my life." She looked her mother in the eyes and said, "I wont be able to do that without you and dad. I need your help. I don't want to have to live every day with the depressing thought that I am going to die. I want to keep on going as if nothing is happening."

Her mum swallowed a couple of times, brushed a tear from her eye, and said, "Ok sweetheart, we will do what ever you want us to do. We support you in whatever you decide." Her mom said, "Albus said he gives you two choices. You can go to St. Mungos and get treated there, or you can stay here at school and have a healer come twice a day to treat you and to check up on you. Which do you prefer?"

Hermione was grateful that she had a choice, but knew right away what she wanted to do. "I want to stay here at school," she said, "I want to be here around my friends, and I want to continue my school work, it is important to me, and I don't want this getting me down." She sighed, and knew that she was in for a rough school year, but she knew that she would have the help and strength and support of those around her to help her get through it all.

"We respect your decision," her dad said calmly "You have truly grown up. I am so proud of you and your strength Mione!" her dad said and pulled her into a tight hug. When he pulled out of the hug he noticed Fred watching them. "Now who is this?" he asked nodding toward the redhead with a smile on his face.

"Oh!" said Hermione, "how rude of me! This is Fred Weasley. He is Ron's Brother. One of the twins." She said.

"Well, it is nice to meet you Fred!" said Mr. Granger as he extended his hand to Fred, trying to lighten up the mood.

Fred shook his hand and said, "Nice to meet you too sir!" He always wanted to impress the ladies' parents. You never know who's parents you will need to impress later, so, to save time, might as well impress them all with great first impressions.

"Hey Mione," her dad said, "Isn't he the one who…" Hermione gave her father a don't-you-dare-finish-your-sentence glare, and he finished with "…is a real trouble maker

Hermione let go of her breath, which she had been holding. "Yes daddy," she said, and smiled he is quite the troublemaker," she said. _Excellent! _She thought, _this is perfect payback for the water mess we got in trouble for!_ With that in mind she continued, "Him and his brother cause all kinds of mayhem for the teachers and prefects like myself." She had a smirk on her face. His expression was priceless, though the pleading look on his face made her go easy on him. How can you stay mad at a face like that? "However, he is always good for a laugh, and he and George always know when to stop," she said walked over to Fred and nudged him in the shoulder.

She was enjoying teasing Fred. He gave her a look that told her that she was in trouble, and she stuck her tongue out at him.

Her parents grinned at them. "Albus said he wanted to see your father and I when you made your decision so that he can make arrangements and let us know what will happen and whatnot, so we will see you later okay honey?" her mom said, and gave Hermione a hug and a kiss, and they walked out of the hospital wing giving Hermione and Fred a hearty wave good bye before exiting.

As soon as they were out of earshot Fred gave Hermione a wet wily. "UGH!" she yelled, "what was that for?" she said and punched him in the arm. "That was absolutely disgusting!

"That was for making me look like an idiot in front of your parents!" Fred said

"And what was up with the sudden change of sentence your dad said? Trust me, I know a lie when I hear one!" He sat on his bed and swung his legs back and forth off the side.

Her face grew pink. "I don't know what you are talking about," She walked over to her bed and sat down facing Fred.

"Liar!" he said defiantly. He wanted to know, so he was not going to let it go.

"Oh yah?" said Hermione, and she pulled her pillow off her bed and smacked Fred with it. She giggled furiously as she hit him again.

"Are you trying to start a fight with me?" he yelled as he pulled his own pillow off his bed and smacked her with it. She gave him a returning smack with her pillow. Their pillow fight went on for about five minutes, and came to an abrupt end when she started to feel woozy.

"Stop!" she said, "I need to sit down for a minute."

She sat down on her bed and Fred sat down next to her. She didn't say anything for a few seconds and then finally said, "Nothing is going to be the same is it? I can say that I want it to be, but it just wont be."

Fred looked her deep in the eyes and saw the sadness, the hope, and also something else, something so faint that it almost wasn't there; it was fear. Fred was lost in her eyes, and didn't realize that he was leaning closer, and closer…

A/N: I know! I am mean! Muahaha! I had to have something to keep yall reading! Lol no worries guys, I will have the next chapter up soon. I would like to give a shout out to my two wonderful beta readers! Tracy and Chey You guys are awesome! And to all my wonderful reviewers! I really appreciate all your support and your advice and whatnot! And if you haven't reviewed… PLEASE REVIEW! Thanks guys! Until next chapter -kikikiwi


	4. Something in the air

-1A/N- _sorry for leaving everyone in the dark for a year or so. It has been a while. Thanks to those who still reviewed. Extra mega thanks to smiles420 for reminding me I had a story haha _

_Also, I started this story a long time ago, and now I have gone through a lot of creative writing classes and whatnot and know what I am doing now, so my story might seem a little more mature now. Thanks all for your reviews despite my absence,_

Disclaimer: I only own the plot.

Chapter 3 recap:

_She sat down on her bed and Fred sat down next to her. She didn't say anything for a few seconds and then finally said, "Nothing is going to be the same is it? I can say that I want it to be, but it just wont be."_

_Fred looked her deep in the eyes and saw the sadness, the hope, and also something else, something so faint that it almost wasn't there; it was fear. Fred was lost in her eyes, and didn't realize that he was leaning closer, and closer…_

Chapter 4: Something in the air

Hermione could feel Fred's breath tingling on her lips and she felt the invisible pull reeling her in. No thought went through her head for the first time in her life, and she felt waves of butterflies in her stomach. Closer, closer, and finally, their lips connected. A sensation Hermione had never known before rushed through her entire body. She was kissing Fred Weasly and he was kissing her back with a fierceness she had never known existed. She found herself letting everything out into this kiss. Her hatred toward Malfoy, her depression for her circumstance, and most of all, her newfound passion she had just discovered. She could feel Fred's tongue sweeping across her lips and she opened her mouth to him and he began flicking his tongue over hers. She had never been kissed like this before; she had never been kissed before at all. All she know was at this moment, she was in a world where nothing else existed except her and Fred. Nothing else mattered. So she kissed him back, repeating his tongue actions, following his lead.

Their succulent world came crashing down when they were brought back to reality by an indignant "AHEM!" which eminated from the mouth of Mr. Granger.

"Damn," Hermione heard Fred mutter. She could feel blood seep up to her cheeks burning them, and she know she was in trouble.

"If you don't mind the interruption, I would like to hug my daughter before I leave. I think it would be best if you left sir." said Mr. Granger staring at Fred with and anxious look on his face.

"sir" was all Fred could muster and stumbled over his feet as he went to sit outside the hospital wing.

"Hermione- I wont inquire about what I just saw, but all I want to say is, be cautious in who you chose to date, because you never know what kind of trouble you could get yourself into. I love you. You are my little girl and I don't want you to get hurt." The man's eyes were careworn and she could tell that he was worried.

"I don't think you have anything to worry about dad," she said. "It wont be happening again. It was an accident, and I can promise you that it wasn't meant to happen in the first place. I apologize father." With that, they hugged, and her mother came in, and they hugged after exchanging farewells.

Fred walked back in looking forlorn. "So uh… what happened… you don't expect it to go anywhere do you? Because I don't know what happened, and I- uh, think it would be best if it never happened again. I mean for one thing, my brother is in love with you, and for another thing, we have nothing in common. You are like a little sister to me."

"Agreed" said Hermione. She stuck out her right hand, "truce?"

"truce" said he, and shook her outstretched hand.

Madame Pomfrey came in to give them their dose of sleeping potion, and while slipping into sleep, Hermione could still feel the tingle of his breath on her lips…

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A/N: sorry it is so short. The next chapter might be a while. I am busy with scholarships and whatnot, so stay posted! Review!!!


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